Carolyn Johnson’s whimsical floral arrangement was inspired by the book, “How to Catch a Leprechaun.” (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

OAK HARBOR – The Whispering Meadows Garden Club has found a way to have fun with flowers while supporting the Oak Harbor Public Library and encouraging children to read. The club hosted the People’s Choice Flower Show on June 10-12, where eleven members created flower arrangements based on children’s books, displayed them at the library, asked library patrons to vote on their favorite, and then donated the books to the library.

The project epitomizes the club, which is founded on friendship and benevolence. Its mission is “to share our time, talents, love of nature and gardens with our friends and our community.”

“This garden club does a whole lot more than most garden clubs,” said member Laura Holman. “This garden club is very active.”

Whispering Meadows was founded in 1987, and founding member Gail Skinner is still active in the club. Today, its 24 members meet the 2nd Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. at the Sandusky Township House, but the group doesn’t just have monthly meetings. They host floral design workshops, go on field trips, attend annual spring wildflower walks, and compete at county fairs and the Ohio State Fair. Members come from several area towns, including Oak Harbor, Tiffin, Bettsville and Bellevue.

“The Ugly Duckling” was the basis for Mary Gochenour’s adorable arrangement. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Whispering Meadows has the distinction of being a member of the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs (OAGC), which was formed by an Ohio State University professor in 1930. The state association is broken down into multicounty regionals clubs, which are further separated into individual clubs like Whispering Meadows.

“Not all garden clubs are members of OAGC,” said member Carolyn Johnson, who is the chair of the People’s Choice Flower Show project.

A few years ago, Whispering Meadows decided to engage in an OAGC beautification project by maintaining many of the flowers at Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont. They choose the types and colors of the flowers for planters throughout the grounds and maintain them during the growing season.

“We plant flowers in the planters and help with whatever they need,” Betty Schade said. “We entered the project into the state competition and won first place.”

The club hosts educational events, volunteers time to the community, supports the Oak Harbor food pantry, and makes monetary donations to local organizations, but the foundation of the group is friendship.

“I joined in 2006. I had the hardest time finding a garden club,” said member Helen Duquette. “I don’t garden. I do floral arranging. I just joined to talk to people.”

Schade joined the club in 2021.

“I had just recently moved here from Virginia,” she said. “I wanted to meet fellow gardeners.”

Last week, their friendship spread across the Oak Harbor Library as they shared their whimsical, creative, beautiful, book-inspired floral arrangements in the annual People’s Choice Flower Show. The centerpiece of Susan Eberhard’s arrangement, which was based on the book “Rattlesnake Rules,” is her grandchildren’s plastic snake.

“Each year, I go into my grandkids’ toy room and pick out one of their toys and design from that. They ask me why their toy is in the library,” she said, laughing. “The club members love doing the arrangements. You can exercise your creativity.”

For more information, visit the Whispering Meadows Garden Club – OAGC Facebook page or email the club at whisperingmeadowsgc@gmail.com.